Asking price spikes beat the market

Sydney house prices could jump higher in the June quarter as vendors lift their asking prices faster than the market is rising and amid a flood of fresh listings. The latest SQM Research data shows vendor asking prices in Sydney climbed 6.1 per cent in the rolling four weeks, ending May 4. Sydney house prices could jump higher in the June quarter as vendors lift their asking prices faster than the market is rising and amid a flood of fresh listings.

The latest SQM Research data shows vendor asking prices in Sydney climbed 6.1 per cent in the rolling four weeks, ending May 4. In the past week alone, asking prices rose by $17,000.

‘‘Property owners have clearly responded to all the talk about a property boom and have aggressively lifted asking house prices over April, particularly in Sydney,’’ SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said.

‘‘This shows increased confidence by vendors who are excited by the current market conditions and are keen to list their property at above average price. They’re thinking they can get top dollars for their property, and so far they have been getting top dollars.’’

A total of 15,919 new listings hit the Sydney market in April, up 4.8 per cent on the previous month. Over the year, fresh listings soared by 80.7 per cent.

Mr Christopher said the flood of new homes listed has not resulted in oversupply or a slowdown in buyer activity.

‘‘We have not seen any indication of a big dip in buyer demand or that sales turnover has fallen away sharply as a result of increased listings,’’ he said.

‘‘Vendors are actually getting the sale, so buyers are willing to pay for the higher price, which in turn will feed into the median price.

‘‘This big rise in asking price especially in Sydney, is happening after the strong March quarter, which kind of implies that the June quarter could be reasonably stronger in terms of price growth. I think prices will be higher compared to the March quarter.’’

CoreLogic reported a 6.7 per cent rise in Sydney prices during the March quarter – the highest level since June 2015. In April, Sydney house prices rose another 2.4 per cent, but this was less than the 3.7 per cent achieved in the previous month.

Mr Christopher said the slight moderation in price growth was unlikely to dissuade vendors from listing homes.

‘‘I think vendors will come to market, given how strong the markets are,’’ he said. ‘‘So far the market response has been encouraging as buyers reluctantly meet vendors’ expectations.’’

Vendors in Canberra were also bullish, adding 1958 new homes into the market in the past month – a 10.7 per cent rise compared to March. In Melbourne, new home listings rose 1.8 per cent to 19,994. But the overall level for new listings fell 2.8 per cent across the country, with Hobart recording the sharpest drop of 16 per cent in the past month. Over the year, listings in Darwin more than doubled, while Melbourne’s climbed 90.7 per cent.